This invention relates generally to the entry and recording of data on a card, and apparatus therefor, and is particularly directed to a data recording device and associated stylus for removing portions of a data card such as an election ballot.
Data, or information, is frequently recorded on cards by punching out, or removing, portions of the card at designated locations, each having associated therewith a given piece of information. Vote recorders are one example of such data recording apparatus. However, a wide range of data is so recorded in various fields such as in evaluation and testing, market surveys, census taking, meter reading, credit card processing, etc. Apparatus for entry of such information on data cards should be inexpensive, reliable and accurate, easy to use, re-usable, and adaptable to various applications and uses.
Present data recorders, particularly of the vote recorder type, generally include a housing into which a data card is inserted for aligning apertures in a plurality of stacked templates permitting a stylus to be inserted in the aligned apertures and through designated locations in the data card. Prior art data recorders generally include a multi-piece housing which must be assembled and securely coupled together during manufacture. Such assembly is generally done by hand and is thus expensive and difficult because of the tight tolerances specified. Failure to meet such tight tolerances frequently results in the hang-up of data entry cards in the apparatus which generally necessitates disassembly of the data recorder and removal of the torn or bent data card before the apparatus can be used again Also entering into the not insubstantial cost of present data recorders is the fabrication of a control mask having a unique array of apertures therein, as dictated by a particular data recording operation such as an election. Prior approaches to the fabrication of such control masks involve the use of large presses to stamp out the individual masks. This procedure is also costly and time consuming. Finally, there have been problems in the past in that prior data recorders have suffered from a failure of the punched out portion, or chip, of the data card to be completely separated when engaged by a stylus. One reason for this incomplete data entry is that the user cannot see the chip being removed and is not provided with confirmation that the data was properly entered.
The present invention is intended to overcome the aforementioned limitations of the prior art and to provide the various advantages described above. The data recorder of the present invention employs a housing of unitary construction and precise dimensions which is inexpensive, easily manufactured, and can be arranged in stacked arrays to facilitate handling and storage. The data recorder includes a tamper-proof feature and makes use of a unique stylus which provides the user with aural and tactile feedback as to the entry of data. The precise dimensions of the data recorder preclude the insertion of more than one data card at a time and it further includes the capability to remove a data card which has become hung-up in the recorder such as by tearing or bending without disassembly of or tampering with the recorder or breaking its security seal.